After the Star Leaves the Stage

Hedge funds are often built around one great manager—which makes succession fraught

by Katia PorzecanskiFeb 8, 20193 minuti

For a decade and a half, Andrew Fredman made a fortune as the investment brains behind Fir Tree Capital Management. Then in 2015, at age 53, he walked. What happened next shows the vagaries of the hedge fund business—and how quickly a hot firm can go cold when a star steps away.

Since Fredman’s final year at Fir Tree, assets have dropped by about $8 billion, to roughly $5.3 billion, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. Caught in a downdraft for so-called